Book Deals: Week of October 23, 2017

By Rachel Deahl
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Oct 20, 2017

McGinnis Tackles Opioid Crisis for Katherine Tegen

For HarperCollins’s Katherine Tegen Books imprint, Ben Rosenthal bought North American rights to Heroine by Mindy McGinnis. The publisher said the contemporary YA novel, about a small-town softball star’s battle with addiction, is “an urgent book that will spark conversation and grab the attention of young people who see themselves in this devastating moment in American culture.” McGinnis, who was represented by Adriann Ranta Zurhellen at Foundry Literary + Media, is an Edgar Award winner and the author of such celebrated works as The Female of the Species and This Darkness Mine. The book is slated for winter 2019.

St. James Signs for Six Figures at Berkley

In a six-figure world rights acquisition, Simone St. James signed with Berkley to write two books. The suspense titles were bought by Danielle Perez from agent Pam Hopkins at Hopkins Literary Associates. The first novel, The Broken Girls, will be published in March 2018 as St. James’s first hardcover release; it follows five girls at a boarding school in Vermont for wayward young women, such as “illegitimate daughters, black sheep, and girls with supposedly no future.” The second book is about a young woman who “takes a job at the same motel where her young aunt disappeared 35 years ago, determined to find out what happened to her.”

Putnam Makes Brandon’s ‘Choice’

Stacey Barney at G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers took world rights, in a two-book deal, to James Brandon’s YA novel The Choice Between. Set in St. Louis circa 1973, the novel follows a young man named Jonathan who, the publisher said, “spends his days hiding under his hoodie, imagining sci-fi scenarios to avoid all the awful things in his world.” Things change for Jonathan when he meets Web. “As the two boys fall in love,” the publisher continued, “they struggle to retain their identities in a world that is doing everything in its power to tear them apart.” Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Agency represented Brandon in the deal.

Ahmed Gets ‘Dangerous’ at Soho Teen

For Soho Teen, Daniel Ehrenhaft took world English rights to Mad Bad & Dangerous to Know, a YA thriller by Samira Ahmed that the publisher described as “twisty.” Likening the novel to works such as A.S. Byatt’s Possession and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Soho Teen said it follows a Muslim-American teenager who partners with a descendant of French author Alexander Dumas “to unravel the mystery of a 19th-century Muslim woman who appears in letters between Dumas and Eugene Delacroix.” The book, which is slated for fall 2019, is told in dueling narratives that weave between past and present. Agent Eric Smith at P.S. Literary brokered the agreement with Ehrenhaft.

Montlake Flips McGuire’s ‘Lights’

Bestselling indie author Jamie McGuire sold world rights to a standalone novel called All the Little Lights to Montlake Romance. Anh Schluep bought the book directly from McGuire in an exclusive submission. Montlake noted that McGuire, whose 2012 self-published novel Beautiful Disaster became a bestseller, is “credited with launching the new adult genre.” Describing All the Little Lights, Montlake said it “delivers all the hallmarks of a beloved Jamie McGuire book: captivating atmosphere, lyrical prose, memorable characters, and unforgettable surprises.” Lights is set for a summer 2018 release.

Nelson Nabs Alzheimer’s Book

For Thomas Nelson’s W Publishing Group, Daisy Hutton and Megan Dobson paid six figures for world rights to Defusing the Alzheimer’s Time Bomb by Jamie Tyrone and Marwan Sabbagh. Linda Konner, who has an eponymous shingle, represented the authors. Konner said the book offers a perspective on the disease from someone who is at high risk of contracting it (Tyrone) and a doctor who works on finding a cure (Sabbagh). The agent described it as the first book “by an Alzheimer’s ‘lab rat’ and an Alzheimer’s medical expert.” Tyrone, who discovered she is likely to get Alzheimer’s after a series of genetic tests, is the founder of a group called BABES (Beating Alzheimer’s by Embracing Science). Time Bomb is set for spring 2019.

Lowry Returns with Another ‘Broke Millennial’

TarcherPerigee inked another personal finance book by Erin Lowry, author of this year’s paperback original Broke Millennial. The new book, Broke Millennial’s Guide to Investing as (but Not Like) a Rookie, will be, the publisher said, “a voice-driven, practical handbook on investing for 20- and 30-somethings.” Eric Myers, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Lowry, selling world rights to Amanda Shih in a two-book deal.

A version of this article appeared in the 10/23/2017 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Deals

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